Co-Advertising and marketing – A Information to Advertising and marketing Partnerships

Hear

NEW! Listen to the article

Log in or register to access this feature!

Business is hard work. You have so much on your plate from meeting your target audience’s needs to developing effective marketing strategies. In a competitive environment, it can be incredibly difficult for companies to reach potential customers, increase brand awareness, and generate qualified leads.

If that sounds like you, there is a simple solution: co-marketing. This guide will help you get it right.

Definition of co-marketing

Co-marketing involves working with one or more companies to develop a marketing campaign. It’s not the same as co-branding, which means that two companies strategically team up and create a new product together in the process.

In co-marketing, the companies involved enter into a partnership in order to market the products and services they already offer to potential customers. The marketing program includes promoting the products of both companies and increasing brand awareness.

The two main types of co-marketing are …

1. Affiliate marketing, a popular type of digital marketing where brands actively work with bloggers and influencers to increase brand awareness and reach their target audience
2. Sales partnership, a partnership in which two brands bundle their products or offer their products to another brand so that they can bundle them with their own

Here is an example of a co-marketing campaign from Etsy and the General Assembly:

Etsy is a popular place for artisans to list their work. General Assembly offers courses in programming, business, data, and design skills. The companies worked together and organized events that gave Etsy artisans the opportunity to design products and host global events.

Co-marketing has many advantages:

• It’s incredibly inexpensive (you share the marketing costs with the brands you work with).
• It expands your customer base.
• It gives you access to more talent.
• It helps small brands strengthen their brand identity when relevant marketing messages are spread through a larger, more established brand.
• It gives you access to additional data about your partner.
• It gives you the opportunity to learn more about your partner company and, ultimately, your own.

A four-step plan for creating a co-marketing strategy

Creating a co-marketing strategy can seem like an intimidating task. However, with the right knowledge and tools, you can successfully implement a marketing partnership that benefits both companies.

1. Select a partner to whom you would like to present your idea

You need to do thorough research before deciding on a company to showcase your idea to. Both brands should benefit from the campaign. So when looking for a partner to apply with, make sure their company values ​​are in line with your own. Your target audiences should be targeted as well.

In your pitch, present your marketing plans in a fascinating way. Go the extra mile and show the other company the opportunities they will miss by saying no to you. Don’t focus on what you can gain from the partnership; Focus on what your partner can gain.

2. Set goals for mutual benefit

There’s no point in pursuing a co-marketing partnership if your goals are misaligned. Even if they are not identical, they should at least complement each other.

These goals must be clear from the start. When you know your goals, you will know the strategies that you will need to implement to achieve them. Furthermore, if your goals are not clear from the start, how can you expect your partner to help you achieve them?

Hear and understand each other and what to expect from the partnership.

Setting goals can be challenging and both partners need to understand the basic principles. Look at the following picture:

You can also choose metrics to track your progress.

3. Decide on a schedule

The only way to meet your co-marketing goals on time is to set a (realistic) schedule. It will stop you from wasting your time. When people have a deadline, they tend to hesitate less because the deadline puts additional pressure on them.

So when you discuss your schedule with your partner, also discuss who is doing what. For example, who will be responsible for the marketing materials on social media? Will this be your marketing team or your partner’s? Or would you prefer to have your two teams work together?

The more concrete the division of labor, the better. If something is not delivered, you also know who should be held responsible.

Here is an example of a marketing timeline:

The key is to communicate. Neither partner should assign a task and an appointment to the other partner’s team without prior consultation. An efficient workflow will keep both companies running and great marketing prospects await both of them.

4. Draft agreement

In other words, seal the deal.

Draw up a formal agreement of your co-marketing partnership with all relevant details. This helps both parties to avoid misunderstandings later. For example, include things like content formats so that each party can look back on the agreement in case of any ambiguity.

The co-marketing partnership document may or may not be legal; The decision rests with both companies. If it’s your first partnership, a legal document may be a better option.

Include everything you talked about in your agreement: the schedule, shared goals, blog post topics if it’s a content marketing collaboration, and so on. Both partners must have an equal say in the decision-making process. This ensures fairness and justice and increases the value of the relationship.

* * *

Co-marketing has so many benefits, including access to more resources and more talent. You also build strong relationships with other brands.

But for a co-marketing partnership to be successful it has to be strategic. Follow the steps in this article: choose the right partner, set goals for mutual benefit, set the schedule, and then draft the agreement.

Communicate with your partner at any time. The goal is to help each other achieve each other’s goals. If you and your partner keep this in mind at all times, your co-marketing partnership will be producing great results for both of you.

Additional resources on marketing partnerships and co-marketing

How to Create a Solid Channel Partner Marketing Plan

How to build successful B2B relationships

This is how you create a thriving ecosystem of customers, partners, advocates and influencers